1. Field of the Invention
Sphygmomanometer pressure relief valves.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A basic sphygmomanometer now in common use includes a resilient bulb which is manually repeatedly squeezed to pump air through a tube into an inflatable cuff which is wrapped around a person's arm. A pressure gauge is connected to the cuff to indicate the pressure level, and a manually operable valve is provided to slowly bleed air from the inflated cuff while a physician listens on a stethoscope to the pulsation of blood through an artery and concomitantly reads the gauge to determine diastolic and systolic blood pressures. After the blood pressure measurements, have been taken, the valve is operated to release the pressure in the cuff so that the cuff may be removed from the person's arm. Various structures for such sphygmomanometer bleed valves are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,254,671; 2,934,061 and 2,603,210.